BEYONCÉ
Cowboy Carter
Parkwood Columbia (reviewed as 24/44.1 streaming from Qobuz). 2024. Many producers and engineers.
Beyoncé’s latest, Cowboy Carter, is being widely called her “country album,” and the country influence is obvious. Some of the songs are even getting airplay on country radio. Cowboy Carter, though, is not a country album: It’s much more ambitious than that.
The first track on is operatic. (“American Requiem” credits 14 songwriters including John Batiste, Shawn Carter, Stephen Stills, and Rhiannon Giddens.) The next is a straightforward cover of a Beatles tune. Third comes a contemporary
